Foreword

In recent years, some New Zealand timber-framed buildings have been designed and built in ways that have caused weathertightness problems.

The Department of Building and Housing is working to ensure better standards of construction, and to make consumers more aware of housing and construction issues. This involves a variety of measures, such as supporting homeowners under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006, publishing guidance about buying, building and maintaining homes, and improving weathertightness construction practices.

This latest publication by the Departmentis a consultant's guide to weathertightness repair, entitled External moisture - A guide to weathertightness remediation. It outlines a process that consultants should follow when advising owners on weathertightness repair of buildings. Specialist areas are also highlighted, where the experienced specialist can assist with critical aspects in the remediation process. These include help with investigating the specific cause and extent of leaks, with deciding repair strategies and with analysing decay.

External moisture - A guide to weathertightness remediation also tells builders and building officials about the intricacies of weathertightness repair,and informs owners of the procedures and specialist advice needed to repair timber-framed buildings affected by water entry.

This is a technical document that has been developed in cooperation with a range of technical experts working in different areas of remediation, including building specialists, designers, remediation contractors, building officials, building scientists and fungal decay experts. It therefore represents a broad industry view that will provide a useful benchmark for remediation work.

The Department recommends External moisture -A guide to weathertightness remediation to consultants advising owners on weathertightness repair of buildings and to anyone who is interested in weathertightness.